Saturday 28 July 2012

Hard week

I haven't posted for the last few days as we have had a few challenges in the last few weeks and a little sadness.   My husband lost a friend in a farming accident.  He was only 53 years old. My brother in law's niece lost her fight with meningitis on Tuesday, she was only 18 years old.  I have also been flat on my back in alot of pain.  I still don't know what caused the back problems.

Life makes changes for us for reasons. I think the reason I had this was to slow down and smell the roses a little more.  I have learned in the last few weeks

  • Life is fragile enjoy every moment
  • We don't know when our time will come to leave this earth use each day well
  • Enjoy everything we are blessed with
  • Don't waste time on uninportant trivialities
  • Put relationships first in life
  • Enjoy our families we don't know how long we will have with them
  • Slow down and see each moment of our live
  • Life will go on without us,  we are not indedispensible
  • Look after ourself we only have one us! 
  • live with a heart of gratitude
  • Spend time not money
  • Rest when possible
And always put people first,
ALWAYS.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Life

Life thoughts

Life is wonderful and other times it throws at you all sorts of things.  We've had a few weeks of life throwing at us sad, tragic and emotionally draining issues.  Through this time I am reminded how beautiful family is,  how precious life is and how great it is to breathe and live.  So many people never get the chance to live a long life or even a full and happy life. I am so grateful for my life.  That I live and breathe,  that I have precious children,  loving family and a God that cares.  I am grateful for creativity that can help problems become less intense and have an outlet for my soul. 




Life is precious and fragile.  This rose is almost perfect except for a little cut in one centre petal yet it is perfect.  Life can be perfect even with all the little (or big) trials we face.  Even though this rose has a small blemish it is still perfect in every way. Part of life is to accept the good with the bad and to embrace it as part of our beautiful existence. 

Have a lovely perfect day xxx

Friday 20 July 2012

photography this week

The fragile beauty of spider webs


These photos have not been photo shopped









Thursday 19 July 2012

Sketchbook this week

The theme for this months sketchbook challenge is circles.  I use a lot of circles in my work so this theme has been lovely.  These are 2 of my pages I have completed.



 
Guitar 'circle'


Circles of flowers.
I like this one so much that I am contemplating a small art piece from it. 


Tuesday 17 July 2012

Last year I joined the sketchbook challenge online.  A group of artists would each take a turn to choose a theme each month and to post  about the theme on a regular basis.  I decided this would be a great way to motivate myself to draw daily and to improve my drawing skills.

I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and began to draw in my journal on a daily basis. It was an immensely enriching and rewarding experience.  I learnt so much about me as a artist and about where I was heading with my work.  I went down roads that I had never been down before and took risks with my art I had never taken before. 

While participating in this challenge I was invited by Sue Bleiweiss (who was the leader of the challenge) to submit 2 drawings into a book about this wonderful project.  This book has been published and one of my pages was selected for it.


It is a lovely book full of the useful and wonderful ideas I have come to love and expect from this group of artists.  There are so many wonderful pages to look at and lots of tidbits of information to learn and grow from. You can buy it from Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/The-Sketchbook-Challenge-Techniques-Inspiration/dp/0307796558  or at the book depository http://www.bookdepository.com/Sketchbook-Challenge-Sue-Bleiweiss/9780307796554
I was given the theme nature as my prompt for this page.  I chose to draw a Protea.  Such an amazing flower,  strong and structured and bright.
What an honour to have one of my peices chosen for such an amazing book.  Thankyou Sue!!

Thursday 12 July 2012

Creativity

We are in the middle of the school holidays here in New Zealand.  It has been a cold one with quite a few beautiful frosts and stunning days.  Being the holidays at the moment has meant less time in the studio.  But that doesn't mean I haven't had any creativity this last week.

Last week my youngest boy got baptised.  It was a beautiful evening for him surrounded by friends and family.  For the occasion I made him a special cake to celebrate his 8th birthday and his baptism.  He really loved it.  The tie on top of the towel has the letters CTR on it.  This stands for Choose the Right.  It is a reminder to each child to make great choices in their life. 




The letter on the cake were stamped in while the icing was still soft


I cut out the circles with a top of a bottle


I wonder if I could try to use any elements from this cake in my art work?

I could try......
  • Using pokadots
  • Stamping letter on to quilt tops
  • Using only a 2 colour palette
  • Try variety of sizes of one shape on a quilt to add interest
  • Use circles in embroidery or quilting
  • Use dots in a border

Look around you to see what inspiration you can see for ideas for your next piece of art work.  You'll be surprised at what you can use.
 

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Studio organisation

There are some wonderful blogs online on studio organisation. I want to share with you these two.  They have some creative ideas and some ideas that don't cost much.  There are some great resources here.


Pinned Image

http://www.curbly.com/users/capreek/posts/13621-eye-candy-12-brilliant-craft-room-organization-and-storage-ideas






http://craftystorage.blogspot.co.nz/


Catherine xxx




Saturday 7 July 2012

Photography this week

Beautiful roses my daughter gave me this week.  They are such a beautiful coral colour.  What a sweet woman.

I hope you enjoy them too....











Thursday 5 July 2012

My boy's quilt

It has been one of those weeks!  Holidays, sick kids and I have put my back out....sigh! Hence no posts for a few days.  It has happened just as I needed to get a few quilts ready for a competition and to finish off 2 quilts for my boys birthdays.

I didn't get one of my quilts done in time for a competition but I did get my 8 yr old quilt finished in time for his birthday.  He loved it.  I actually made a patchwork quilt which is the first for me in a long time.  I love the look of patchwork but I don't really enjoy making them.  I really love the end result of his quilt.  I named it 'I spy a bottle'

These are pictures of him opening his quilt and it on his bed.  I love his face when he saw the whole quilt for the first time.  Priceless!!!  he absolutely loves it.












Sunday 1 July 2012

Kindness chronicles




Kindness is so contagious.  When someone is kind to me I always want to pass it on to someone else.  It is such an amazing thing.  With so many things in our world that is take, take, take it is nice to have something that is give, give, give.  Someone at chuch was telling me today that they were baking for a friend and another friend was quite astounded that they were doing that for someone else.  I found that sad.  Everyone should be entitled to a friend or a person they know that is kind to them.  All of us need to feel loved and be loved by someone else.  It is why we are here and why we exist. 

What kind things have happened to me and others this month?

  • My 7 (almost 8-in his works just 2 more sleeps1) yr old has given me so many love notes that have let me smiling. Like mum I love you and you are the best mum in the world
  • My hubby brought me home a bunch of a dozen roses form a florist because the kids had been sick with tummy bugs and he was worried about me
  • My 11 year old volunteered to run all of the games for his brothers birthday party.  He did so well.  I am so proud of him
  • My 20 year old daughter brought me home roses because she loves me
  • My 18 year old helped with all the food for my sons party without complaints
  • My hubby and daughter took back library books that were almost due so I could quilt
  • Children talking care of others jobs so they could rest during a tummy bug
  • I had 3 people volunteer to bring a plte to a fuction I am catering for

What have I done this month?

  • Put on an amazing party for my youngest boy :)
  • Sorted the house out
  • Sent letters to friends
  • Visited with a friend who needed me to listen
  • Had a daughters friend over who needed a roof over her head for the night
  • Took dessert around to a family memebr who needed loving through a chronic illness
  • I sent flowers to someone who was sick
What have you doneor had done for you this month?  I would love to know.  Leave a  comment for me
 
Love Catherine xx
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...